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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Shortbread short-comings

I love shortbread. My
favorite ones are the “Highlanders” and the orange chocolate covered ones from
Walkers. I am also always sneaking into
Starbucks to buy a 2-packet one of their own Walkers version. I then saw Martha Stewart baking it on
“Martha Bakes”, and thought her recipe and technique were worth a try.

The more powerful reason I definitely wanted to bake my own
shortbread was the fact that I had found a very exclusive butter, imported from
France, bearing the AOP label (Apellation d’Origine Protégée), at one of my
local gourmet markets. It is called Beurre d’Isigny, and I thought it a
masterful element in the elaboration of exquisite shortbread, since butter is
the main ingredient in the product – i.e. the better the butter, the better the
result.

As simple as the recipe looked, it took me 3 tries to master
it. The problem laid with the
measurements. See, the Beurre d’Isigny shows its weight in
grams – 250 for each log, equivalent to 8.8 ounces. Martha’s recipes calls for 2 sticks of
butter, or a cup (are 2 sticks really a cup?).
But of course the sticks she is referring to are American size. The French version is sufficient with just 1
log of butter, minus a little less (the extra 0.8 ounce that the log
carries).

Due to all this confusion, the first time I tried the recipe
I used 2 logs of butter, resulting in fabulous flavour… and a complete
blob. As soon as I pulled it out of the
oven, it reminded me of the 60’s movie “The Blob”, only in a lighter colour. The next time I tried it with only 1 log of
the dreamy Beurre d’Isigny, plus a
little more. Still not good. The final result came out too greasy and,
although browned enough after 50 minutes in the oven, it seemed still a bit undercooked
in the center.

Last weekend I tried it again. And this time I subtracted the 0.8 ounce from
1 log. After I had finished
incorporating all the other ingredients it formed into a dough, and I knew that
finally, I had mastered it.

Undoubtedly, the secret to outstanding shortbread lies in
the quality of the butter used to make it.
So I encourage you to buy the best one you can find, plus the best
vanilla extract you can afford (I use Penzeys’ Double Strength Madagascar
Vanilla), and give it a go. It makes for
an excellent gift as well as a hostess’ treat.

Here is Martha’s recipe for traditional Scottish Shortbread, adapted to accommodate the exquisite French
butter:

Preheat oven to 326
degrees. Sprinkle shortbread with
sanding sugar. Using the back side
of a knife blade, score dough from the edge of the circle in the center
toward the edge of the pan into 12 equal wedges.

Transfer the tart pan to
the oven and bake until light brown and a toothpick inserted into the
center of the shortbread comes out clean, about 50 minutes (but check it
closely, as oven temperatures vary greatly). Immediately re-score wedges with the
back side of the knife blade.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 1 hour. Remove shortbread from tart pan and let
cool completely. Cut into wedges
with a serrated knife along the scored lines.

Nothing like shortbread with crema de cioccolattoand refreshing smoothie for a cozy afternoon snack.

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About Me

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived there during the first twenty years of my life. I've been living in the Sunshine State for over twenty years now, most recently in Orlando - the city of Disney.
I'm a Political Scientist and have traveled extensively as the true Saggitarian that I am. I love to experience new cultures through food and customs. In this blog, I aim to invite you to slow down and enjoy the pleasures of life in order to become the perfect, non-desperate hostess - mainly good food, wine, travel, great literature and entertainment with the people that matter to us. This is a blog about debauchery, so if you are not interested in self-indulgence, you might have to look elsewhere.
As far as my personal interests go, I have a sponge-like mind and absorb as much from the world around me as I can. I am mostly interested in everything French, the country's history, cuisine and traditions.
This blog is about dreams, projects and passions. Mine just as much as yours. I review products and places, and test recipes. I invite you to peruse and indulge...